Anyportinastorm May Extend Streak in Longacres Mile

Anyportinastorm drew Post 8 and is the 8-5 morning line favorite for the Aug. 11, $200,000 Longacres Mile Handicap (G3) at Emerald Downs.

The 84th renewal of the Northwest's most prestigious race drew a field of 11 older horses and goes as Race 7 at 5:30 p.m PT. The Mile is the centerpiece of the inaugural Championship Sunday, featuring four stakes worth an aggregate $350,000 in purses.

A 5-year-old Florida-bred by the late City Zip, Anyportinastorm recorded meet-fastest times at six furlongs (1:07.54) and 6 1/2 furlongs (1:14.35) while airing in the Governor's Stakes and Budweiser Stakes, respectively. He hasn't raced since the June 30 Budweiser Stakes, but he's had four works in the interim, capped by a half-mile breeze in :48 Aug. 5.

"I couldn't ask for him to be doing any better," trainer Blaine Wright said of Anyportinastorm. "Let's hope we get a good trip and the racing gods are with us."

The son of a top Northwest trainer, Wright said winning the Mile would be a feather in his cap but added he would be happiest for his father Richard and owners Peter Redekop and Todd and Shawn Hansen. Redekop owns Anyportinastorm, while the Hansens own 12-1 Mile contender Oh Marvelous Me. Redekop, Wright, and jockey Juan Hernandez nearly won last year's Mile with Alert Bay, an 8-year-old millionaire son of City Zip that returned from over a year-long layoff to finish second to Barkley.

Anyportinastorm is 7-1-4 in 13 career starts with earnings of $241,025, including three stakes wins in his most recent three starts. His only previous try around two turns was a third in the Alcatraz Stakes at one mile on the turf at Golden Gate Fields in 2017. Anyportinastorm carries high weight of 124 pounds. Regular rider Hernandez is in the irons.

Oh Marvelous Me, third to Barkley and Alert Bay last year, is the only returnee from the 2018 Mile. A 7-year-old Bluegrass Cat  gelding, Oh Marvelous Me is 6-5-6 in 18 lifetime starts at Emerald Downs, including two seconds and two thirds in four starts this year.

Solid Wager, second choice at 5-1, is the leading earner in the race with $857,970. The 8-year-old gelding son of Birdonthewire spent most of his career with trainer Peter Miller in California. At the start of this year, he was sent to Chris Englehart at Aqueduct Racetrack and contested the Toboggan Stakes (G3), which he won by 1 1/2 lengths. He was returned to Miller in California in March and finished fourth in the San Carlos Stakes (G2). Solid Wager was claimed for $62,500 at Churchill Downs May 3 by his current owner David Staudacher and trainer Michael Maker. In the Mile, Juan Gutierrez, a two-time winner of this race, has the mount.

Curlin Rules, third choice at 6-1, boasts powerhouse connections with trainer John Sadler and owners Pete and Kosta Hronis, who combined to win the 2018 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) with Accelerate . A lightly-raced 6-year-old by Curlin , Curlin Rules might have the best chance of applying early pressure to Anyportinastorm.

Law Abidin Citizen is a classy 5-year-old by Twirling Candy  with a graded stakes win on turf in the San Simeon Stakes (G3T) March 31 and was second in the American Stakes (G3T) June 23. Both races were at Santa Anita Park. Abel Cedillo, the leading rider this winter/spring at Golden Gate Fields, has the riding assignment.

Sharing a 12-1 morning line with Oh Marvelous Me is More Power to Him, a deep closer that defeated El Huerfano in the Mt. Rainier Stakes. His trainer Kay Cooper has strong Mile lineage through her father, the late Jim Penney, who saddled a record five Longacres Mile winners including three at Emerald Downs.

Entries: Longacres Mile H. (G3)

Emerald Downs, Sunday, August 11, 2019, Race 7

• Grade III
• 1m
• Dirt
• $200,000
• 3 yo's & up
• 5:30 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Restrainedvengence (KY)	Kevin Krigger	117	Val Brinkerhoff	15/1
2	2Solid Wager (CA)	Juan M. Gutierrez	121	Michael J. Maker	5/1
3	3Oh Marvelous Me (KY)	Jorge Carreno	118	Blaine D. Wright	12/1
4	4Rocky Tough (KY)	Julien Couton	120	Tim McCanna	8/1
5	5Law Abidin Citizen (KY)	Abel Cedillo	119	Mark Glatt	10/1
6	6Curlin Rules (KY)	Martin A. Pedroza	116	John W. Sadler	6/1
7	7Brave Nation (KY)	Gary Wales	115	John Snow	20/1
8	8Anyportinastorm (FL)	Juan J. Hernandez	124	Blaine D. Wright	8/5
9	9More Power to Him (CA)	Kevin E. Orozco	121	Kay Penney Cooper	12/1
10	10Elliott Bay (WA)	Javier Matias	115	Frank Lucarelli	30/1
11	11El Huerfano (CA)	Agapito Delgadillo	121	Chris Stenslie	8/1